How to Use Dark and Shadow in Black and White Photography

Use of shadow and dark, negative forms of light, in black and white photography is a means to create impressions of strength, contrast and dimensionality. With aperture and composition, a photograph can draw the viewer's eye to the spot that the makes the photographer's statement about the subjects--primary and secondary. Shadow and dark are light designs used to make an effective picture applying shadow as three-dimensionality, as darkness and as independent form.

Instructions

1. 

   Use black to create receding or passive impressions. Illuminated areas suggest dominance or aggression. A dark foreground can compel the eye toward a lighter center. Avoid small light subject matter near the border of a composition, which creates a leaking out of the frame effect.

2. 

   Symbolize three-dimensionality with shadow. A surface enlivened by shadows cannot be a plane. The surface must have elevations or curvature. Shadow is graphic proof of three-dimensionality. Shadows to the lower right creates a realistic impression, while shadows to the upper left will invert the image. For example, mountains will appear as valleys.

3. 

   Create value of shadow with tonality, depth of tone. The darker the shadows, the lighter, more luminous or more colorful the adjacent illuminate picture elements. White never appears more brilliant than when contrasted with darkness or black.

4. 

   Apply shadow as independent form. Grotesquely distorted shadows, in the sense of caricature, by merit of exaggeration, can emphasize a subject and characterize it in highly expressive form.

Resources

• Black and White Photography Shadows and Light--The Secret of Tonality
• Shadows and Highlights: The Mark of Excellence
• Shadows and Highlights in Black and White Photography